Impossible
by AmericaSweetSouthernBelle
Summary: "I'm impossible to figure out. So impossible, you had your doubts." Arthur & Ariadne.


Hey guys! Long time no read. It's been a really long time since I've posted a story. Call me a little uneasy. Not to mention kind of nervous. But, here I am. Updating for once. With a one-shot. I really hope you guys like this. I'm really excited to put it out. Talk about an unoriginal plot line. But hey, it's a one-shot. That's ok. I hope all you guys like this! I'm super stoked. Tell me what you think. Be nice, i'm just getting my writing groove back after two years. I'd like to think my writing has improved since my twilight days. (Oh, to my twilight readers that have me on author alert, I may delete them and and edit all of it. It makes me sick how crappy my grammar was back then... And lack of a beta can 'cause that. Anywho.) Love you guys!

-Kinziewriteslove

**Arthur and Ariadne = Not mine.**

**Impossible by Anberlin= Not mine. **

**Wish both were. But they're not. Thank Christopher Nolan for one of my currently favorite couples... Not to mention two of my favorite actors. Thanks man for making me trip out once again. And Anberlin for playing the entire time writing this. Right. Now go read. **

* * *

"I'm impossible to figure out. So impossible, you had your doubts."

–Impossible by Anberlin

Ariadne eyes snapped opened to the beaming light inside the cabin. She felt the breath being sucked out of her chest like a life force was hovering over her. She took a deep breath and quickly looked around. It felt like her eyes were buzzing inside her head. The adrenaline pressing every button in her that absolutely had no reason to be pressed. No matter how fun it may be. She was on a high but everything was vibrating. She couldn't focus on the people around her. She pressed her eyes together tightly while ripping the needle out of her arm. She relaxed her eyes and opened them again. Objects began to become clearer. Color began to form into shapes. She dug her hand into her pocket searching for the bishop. Her fingers wrap around the lukewarm metal. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. The familiar weight gave her hope that they had actually pulled this off.

She raised her eyes to look at the people in the cabin. Arthur had already pulled off the tubes and had them in the brief case before Fischer woke up. Her eyes met Eames. He smiled that familiar cocky smirk then winked at her. They had actually done this. Yusuf eye's sparkled. She then looked at Arthur.

He gave her a smirk but she knew that was his way of a small smile. His hair was perfectly swept back. His tie was perfectly straight and knotted. He had on his coat and he looked completely put together and calm. Like nothing happened.

She felt a storm ranging inside her chest. She gripped the totem in her pocket tighter. He gave her an understanding look before she looked away to look at Cobb. He woke up and had a slightly frightened look on his face. Saito slid up in his seat and pulled his phone out and made a call. The mission was a success. Fischer awoke and didn't give any of them a second glance. It was like they hadn't spent all this time in his dreams at all. The plane landed bumpily in LAX. Ariadne held her breath as one by one everyone left.

_One more touch… I don't know if I can live without one more touch. _Ariadne thought to her self as she looked at Arthur. Her heart screamed at him but she knew he couldn't hear it. Nor could he see it.

"_We must act like we don't know each other when Fischer is awake."_ Arthur once told her while in the warehouse. She thought that would be easy enough… But that was before the dream.

Before the dream and before that blissful and perfectly chaste kiss. That kiss would forever make Ariadne think differently about Arthur.

His lips were surprisingly soft on hers. Though it was only momentary, she wondered if maybe perhaps, just perhaps it wasn't to draw attention away from him.

If the projections knew he was the dreamer, how would a kiss help him? _Only if he wanted that kiss to be._ She thought to herself. If only he felt the same way that Ariadne felt. She wasn't going to lie to herself. She didn't understand guys at all. She walked through customs and was soon waiting for her bag. She felt like she was choking on her air every few breaths. She went to limbo and could have missed the kick.

She escaped with out major scarring on her mind she prayed. Her hands were shaking as she tried to calm herself. She slid the Chess piece back into her pocket. Arthur stood ahead of her. She could see the back of his well-groomed head.

"_Darling, learn to improvise."_ Eames had told her once while practicing in her dreams. That's when she mastered some of Arthur's favorite maze techniques.

Improvise, that she could possible do. One touch. That's all she wanted. Because she knew Arthur was impossible. Simply impossible. Impossible to grasp, and impossible to keep and impossible to forget. She wasn't sure how he felt about her. What if she was looking into that kiss too much? What if in reality, he was just hoping for something to bring the attention off of him? He stood by the carousel waiting for his bag.

One touch was all she needed. She walked over when she saw her bag coming. She touched his lower back.

"Excuse me sir." She muttered. One touch. She leaned in front of him and grabbed her bag. His was right behind hers. As she walked away he kept on her trail. They walked through immigration and handed the workers their papers.

One touch into the impossible. One touch was all she got. But hopefully that one touch would mean more than everything to him. She hailed a cab. The driver put her bag in the trunk as she got in. For some reason the cab driver wasn't in the car. The door opened and Arthur slid in beside her.

"I hope you won't contest. But I believe we may be going to the same place." He smiled to her. He had set up her hotel room for her arrival while they were in Paris.

"_I'm a Point Man. Details are my thing." _He gave her a genuine smile when she inquired what to do after they parted ways. But he never _told _her what to do. He just insisted that it was taken care of. They sat quietly in the cab as it travelled to the address he gave the driver.

It was hard for her to breathe.

"_Have you ever been a lover?" Mal asked her. She was at a loss for words. _

"_I just want to understand…" she tried but Mal was to her feet walking towards her. _

"_I'll tell you how it feels. You're going on a train…" She began. She felt two strong hands pull her away and into the elevator. She ducked her head. The door closed and she was looking at Cobb._

"Ariadne?" Arthur gripped her hand tightly. It pulled her out of the flashback.

"Oh, yes? Sorry. What?" she muttered.

"Are you ok?" he asked. She nodded her head.

"I... I'm fine. Don't worry about me." She tried to brush it off. He wasn't buying it, but he let it be for now. She should have known he wasn't going to accept that answer. It seems that he knew her better than she knew her self. And she would blame that reason on him being in her dreams.

The taxi stopped at a five star hotel. Way to nice, and expensive. She wouldn't even pay this much for a room even with the money that Saito had wired into her account previously before boarding the plane.

"May I help you sir?" the woman behind the counter asked. She tried too hard for Ariadne's taste. Trying to get the attention of Arthur.

"Yes. I have two rooms reserved under the name Stone." He informed her.

_Stone… I wonder if that's even his real last name._ She thought to herself.

"Mr. Stone, it's a pleasure to see you again." She smiled as she handed him two keys. "If you need anything, don't hesitate. Arthur gave her a smirk that Ariadne could easily read.

Arthur understood the first mission well. It was a success. But after the first major mission, thing tend to come up. He found it would just be easier to deal with any issues with the Architect if she was only across the hall rather than a block or so away.

They went to the elevator but Ariadne felt like she was just going through the motions. She didn't know what floor Arthur asked, or how long it took to get to her room.

"Ariadne?" Arthur pulled her out of her reverie yet again.

"Yeah?" she asked him.

"Are you sure your ok?"

"I must be… Exhausted." She mumbled. He smiled at her knowingly.

"You're room is just across the hall." He told her and handed her a key. She slid the key card in and the door open. She walked through and immediately pulled the chess piece out of her pocket. She set it on the table and pushed it with her index finger. It fell making a _thud_ when it hit the mahogany top. She let out a breath that she was holding. A moment later a knock came on the door.

"Come in." she spoke to it. The door swung open before she realized it shouldn't. Arthur pushed her bag into the room and closed the door.

"How are you?" he asked. He brushed invisible dust off his jacket and straightened his already straight tie. He finally looked at her. He noted her eyes looked tired. Black smudges started from the inner corner of her eyes before they faded. He was positive that she must be tired and hungry. To prove his point even more he heard her small tummy growl. Her beautiful brown eyes that usually were full of life and questioning felt dull. She picked up her totem and pushed it over again.

"I'm fine." She mumbled. She picked it up and did it once more.

"You were never a good liar." He smiled. She swallowed the lump in her throat. He was so handsome. It's not like she had never noticed it before. But he could really pull off a three-piece suit. It had to be illegal to look that good.

"Yeah… Never claimed to be. I'm just the architect." She smiled slowly.

"I think you're more than you let on." He returned the smile with more of a smirk.

_Impossible. He's impossible. _She recited to herself. _Pity. This is just pity; the new kid and a hard mission. Impossible. That's what he was. He's unattainable like the thousand stars that lit up the Parisian sky after the sunsets. _She thought to herself before she realized his hand was now resting on his chin. He was deep in thought.

"Dinner?" he asked. Ariadne's heart swelled.

"Sure." She tried to keep her cool. But she felt like she was losing it. She ran her thumb over her totem. He walked to the window and she quickly set it on the table and pushed it with the pad of her thumb. It fell and she picked it up. Running her forefinger around the head of the piece. "Arthur?" she began.

"Yeah?"

"Are you sure we're not dreaming?" she asked him. He turned to her with a patient look on his face. He walked over to the table and pulled out his totem. He threw it onto the table and it landed on a number. He threw it again and satisfied with the result he looked up at her.

"We're wide awake." She let out a breath she was holding. She knew she could trust her totem.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

"Arthur?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever wore a pair of jeans in your life?" she asked him with a playful smile on her lips. He laughed at the random question.

"Surprisingly yes. I own a few pairs."

"Yeah, I don't believe you." She smiled as she stood up. He walked over to her and she slipped her totem into the pocket of her black pants. She held it tightly in her pocket.

They entered a small café on the corner of a street just across from the hotel. He touched the small of her back while leading her into the dining area.

_Two. Two touches. Two impossible touches. Impossible. That's what this is. Everything about my life is now impossible. Impossible to continue the once normal life I had, impossible adrenaline, and impossible men. Impossible. Story of my life._ Ariadne was honest with herself. It hurt to think that everything changed so quickly all because of a maze that took two minutes to make and one minute to solve. They sat down in a booth in the dark corner of the restaurant. Arthur took the liberty of ordering a bottle of wine. She pulled the totem out of her pocket and pushed it once it clattered onto the table. _Change. Impossible. _She thought.

"What's going through your head Ariadne?" Arthur asked her. She was still lost in her head.

"Change. Impossible. Everything I thought was impossible is now possible and everything I thought possible is now meaningless." She shook her head and tried to clear it before looking up at him.

"_You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You can't be sure where it will take you." Mal spoke to her. Her eyes glowing with fury. She felt a grasp on her shoulders. _

"_But it doesn't matter- because we'll be together." Cobb finished the line while they began to rise up in the elevator. _

"_YOU PROMISED ME!" she screamed. She was pained. It wasn't because she was evil, or crazy, though those thoughts did pass through Ariadne's mind. She was pained because she was being locked down deep in the subconscious of Cobb. _

"Ariadne…" Her eyes focused on Arthur who had an extremely concern look on his face. She looked away from his deep eyes. "Hey, look at me." he told her grabbing her chin with his fingers softly bringing her eyes back to his.

"Arthur." Her voice cracked.

"Breathe… it's ok. This happens. You went deep. Deeper than what any of us did other than Cobb. You did an amazing job. Hey, breathe. You're fine. No one's after you. You survived. You're ok. This is normal." He tried to calm her.

"Have you ever been afraid?" she asked. "Afraid of… Of all of this?" she asked him suddenly. He thought about the question.

"Yes. I'm not going to lie. Still scares me when I get shot in the middle of the forehead." He smiles sadly and shook his head. He brings his hand from her face and begins to move back to sit in his seat but Ariadne grabs his hand. His eyes snap to her.

"Please…" she mumbled. "Just… Give me a moment." She whispered. He nodded his head.

"I understand." She lets out a deep breath. A deep breath she needed.

"When you zoned out… What did you see?"

"A flash back of a dream… A dream I would consider a nightmare." She tells him.

"Of what?" he asks.

"Cobb and Mal."

"Of course, the worst kind." He smiled trying to lighten her mood.

"Worse than that."

"What does she say to you?"

"She asks me if I've ever been a lover… She then tells me… 'You're waiting for a train, a train that will take you far away. You can't be sure where it will take you…' then she charges at me but Cobb saves me. And she screams." She tells him.

"Where did that memory come from?" he asked her cautiously.

"The day you and Saito came to tell us of Fischer Senior's death." She tells him.

"Ah. You went into his dream?" she nodded her head. "They… Have a messy past." He tries to soothe her.

"I know. I re-lived all of it." She sighed. He squeezed her hand. Their food came and they eat in content silence.

"What's your favorite color?" she asked suddenly. Needing conversation to keep her bound to reality. She was fearful. She wouldn't lie.

"Red." He replied

"Really?" she asked. He nodded his head.

"I've always liked that color." He wouldn't tell her the reason he liked that color so much was because it made her skin look warm. Or that every time he made her embarrassed her skin would light up in the most delicious shade he's ever seen. Or that her red lips made his skin crawl with anticipation. He wouldn't tell her that no matter what she asked, he would do because she had that type of magic on him. He wouldn't tell her any of that. He paid the bill against her protest and he walked with her back to the hotel. He turned to her when they got to the rooms.

"Hey…" she faced him. "If you need anything, don't hesitate. Ok? No matter the time." It was like Arthur to worry about her. She smiled and nodded her head.

"Hopefully I won't need you in the middle of the night."

"Doesn't matter. If you do, you know where my door is." She smiles at him. He grabbed both sides of her face and leaned in and kissed her forehead. She let out a haggard breath. "Sweet Dreams, darling." The sentiment made her heart pound out of her chest and into her skull. It pounded loudly. She was slightly surprised that Arthur couldn't hear it.

Who was she kidding? He's a point man. His job is the details. He could hear it. And she knew he could hear it. He walked to his room with a smirk on his lips.

"Night Arthur." She pushed out. Before his door closed. She walked into the room and quickly took a shower.

The warm water scolded her skin. She stood there with the totem in her hand. She set it down on the floor of the shower and tipped it over. _Reality. Real. Now. Live. I'm alive. This is real. And I'm scared. _She thought to herself. Sleep scared her. If she was having these flashbacks, she's afraid of what she could dream. She got out and slipped on her clothes. She pulled on a pair of flannel pants and a tank top. She slid the totem into her pocket and walked to her bed. It loomed with the idea of sleep. She was exhausted. But she was scared. Cobb told her she wouldn't dream any more… But what about nightmares? She took a deep breath before lying down on the bed. She looked at the clock.

_10:30… 10:31… !0:32… _her eyes shut and she was asleep.

"_Do you know how it feels to be a lover?" The Parisian accent of Mal asked Ariadne. _

"_I…I…" she tried to speak. _

"_Of course you don't. Far too young to feel such pain." Her words were like venom to an open wound. _

"_Why are you haunting me?" Ariadne screamed. She finally found her voice. _

"_You act so innocent. But do you know how it feels to hurt? How it feels to have someone you love disappear?" Mal asked her. _

"_Ariadne!" She turned and saw Arthur running towards her. It was all happening too quickly. She heard a gunshot, and Arthur stopped moving. His eyes became the size of saucers. He brought his hand up to his chest and when he removed it, it was covered in red blood. He buckled to his knees and Ariadne ran to him, catching him before he fell to the ground. _

"_Arthur… Arthur, stay with me. Arthur… Please… Please look at me. Please… Don't. No. Please. You can't… Don't leave me here. Please. Arthur? Arthur?" she held his face between her hands as the life left his body. She looked up at Mal. "WHY? Why? Why did you do this to me?"_

"_You may never know how to love, but you will know how to hurt." Her words rolled off her tongue. She raised the gun and shot Ariadne in the same spot as Arthur. _

She flew straight up in her bed. The sheets tangled around her hips. She looked over at the clock.

_12:46…_ she thought to herself. She jumped out of bed and ran towards the door. She ripped it opened and bound across the hall and began banging on Arthur's door. _Please let it be a dream. Please let it be a dream._ Tears rolled down her cheeks freely.

_PLEASE let it be a dream!_ She screamed in her head. The door opened swiftly and all she could see was Arthur's tired face. She wrapped her arms around his chest and held him tightly. She cried and he wrapped his arms around her cautiously before tightening them. He pulled her into his room and shut the door.

"Ariadne? What happened?" he asked her. She just shook her head and continued to cry in a mixture of relief and pain. He held her tightly. "It's ok… It's ok… You're alive… You're here. You're fine. It's ok." She tried to speak again.

"N-n-no… It's not me I'm a-a-a-fraid of." She whispered against his bare chest. The feeling of her lips made him shiver.

"Then what are you afraid of?"

"T-t-that you wouldn't b-b-be." She whimpered and held him tightly.

_I never thought in all my time that she would be this strong._ Arthur smirked to himself. But he realized quickly that what ever she dreamt really screwed her head up. She was shaking violently and was trying her hardest to calm down. He could feel her hand move into her pocket and then was back around his chest. He felt something cool, and metal lightly touch his skin.

Her totem.

"Come on." He dragged her farther into the room and they sat down on the couch. He pulled her onto his lap and rested his head on top of hers'.

He knew that he probably shouldn't be holding her like this. He knew it wasn't very professional. But as of lately he hadn't been doing a lot of things by the books. Let alone how he dealt with her.

Eames even called him out on this.

"_Loosening up your one dimensional personality now love? Ready to go out and play?" he asked while sitting down behind Arthur. _

"_What do you mean?"_

"_I believe that if you stare at our little architect any more, she's going to realize it… You know you're building up an unneeded tension. Just kiss the girl." He told him. Arthur gave him a sharp look. "Now, now. I'm just calling you out on your own bullshit. Just kiss her." _

That was planted in his subconscious. So when the mission finally rolled around he asked her for a kiss. And she complied.

And now here he was, doing something he knows he probably shouldn't do, but he can't help it. It just breaks his heart too much to watch her hurt.

"Arthur?" she beckons his attention.

"Yeah?"

"If I ask you to do something, will you do it?" she asks. Her voice small.

"Of course." He didn't hesitate.

"Will you kiss me?" she didn't move her head from under his chin. He could do what she asks, or he can find a loophole.

_I don't want us to end up like Cobb and Mal, _Or, _We're business partner, we shouldn't do that. _He thought up a few reasons on the top of his head.

But if truth were told as it should be.

They weren't going to end up like Cobb and Mal. They both had gone into dreams and got out perfectly fine. A little screwed up here and there. But they didn't stay. They didn't want to stay. They both liked reality. His hand reached for his pocket. He held the die in his hand. The familiar weight clued him into knowing the reality of this. She was putting herself out on a line. He looked down at her for a moment before putting his hand under her chin and angling it up to his. He placed his lips against hers. First a slow chaste kiss. She didn't push him.

_Impossible. This has to be impossible. He would kiss me and run. That's what he should do. Because this is impossible. Why did I ask? Impossible. _Her mind began to panic at the question. But something strange happened. Suddenly his arms pulled her closer than she already was, as if that was possible. He pushed the kiss.

Suddenly the tables changed. He held her close. He kissed her passionately. The flames built up in both their chests as they tried to take deep breaths. They finally broke apart.

_Impossible._ She thought once again. He smiled at her a smile she'd never seen on his lips. It was pure ecstasy.

"Arthur…" she mumbled.

"Yeah?"

"I'm afraid to sleep." She told him suddenly. She should have told him that earlier.

"Then stay with me." He picked her up easily and laid her on the bed. He crawled in onto the other side. "Please just stay with me." he whispered against her jaw. She didn't know the depth of the statement.

_How long? Now? Tomorrow? Forever? _She knew she loved him. She loved him since the moment in the warehouse after her second time dream sharing. When Mal stabbed her. He was beside her the moment she flew awake. He was with her.

He was with her now. When she swore that Mal had killed him. But here he was. His arms tucked around her and her head resting against his bare chest.

_But he should be impossible to get. _She thinks to herself. "I swore you were impossible," she muttered.

"What?" he asks. Unsure of what he heard.

"You're perfect… and I'm not… You're all business, the epitome of patience. I'm…I'm just a messed up art student who had a couple really crappy boyfriends. Love has never been something I've known. I thought you were unattainable. I thought you… I thought you'd never want me around." She tried to explain. His hand came under her chin and pulled her lips to his silencing her.

After a long moment he pulled away. "I always want you around Ariadne. Why do you think I'm always around you?" he asks.

"Because you'd rather be around me than deal with Eames?" she was a little puzzled to be honest.

"Because I believe in love at first sight, and I knew you were the girl. The girl I wanted to be with. The girl that is more than a girl, a girl that is a beautiful woman. I… I know we won't end up like Cobb and Mal. We will be our own. But whatever happens next, I want to be with you. By your side, and you by mine.

Ariadne smiled.

_Impossible sometimes just means you haven't tried hard enough. _She decided as she cuddled close to the point man. He'd protect her. She knew it. They fell into a peaceful sleep for the first time in what felt like years to both of them.


End file.
